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THE  MORAVIAN  EASTER. 


Nowhere  is  the  sacred  festival  of 
Easter  preceded  by  such  extensive  pre- 
parations and  celebrated  so  elaborately 
as  among  the  Moravians  of  Salem,  North 
Carolina.  Even  the  observance  of  Christ- 
mas pales  by  comparison :  a  fact  which 
may  in  part  be  attributed  to  the  balmy 
Southern  weather  which  usually  favors 
the  Easter  period,  and  helps  the  flaxen- 
haired  Moravian  maidens  to  ornament 
their  house  of  God  with  the  fresh,  sweet 
flowers  and  foliage  of  the  early  spring. 

These  floral  decorations  are  artistic  in 
conception  and  arrangement,  and  so  pro- 
fuse that  the  church  interior  becomes  a 
firmament  of  evergreens  and  flowers.  In 
addition  to  the  products  of  forest  and 
garden,  many  rare  exotics  are  imported 
for  the  occasion  or  grown  within  the 
greenhouses  of  the  town.  Cedar,  ivy 
and  holly  hang  in  festoons ;  the  galleries 
are  embowered;  the  great  organ,  the 
pulpit  and  the  rostrum  are  lavishly 
decorated,  and  behind  the  pulpit  shine 
forth,  in  large  letters,  deftly  fashioned 
with  white  hyacinths  and  roses,  the  words, 
4 'Christ  is  Risen."  The  decorations,  of 
course,  appear  to  greatest  advantage  at 
evening  service,  when  the  church  is 
brilliantly  illuminated. 

For  weeks  before  the  first  observances 
of  the  festival  take  place,  an  immense 
choir  is  drawn  together  for  practice,  and 
voices  are  attuned  to  sing  the  soulful 
anthems  of  the  church  that  are  appro- 
priate to  the  occasion.  The  Moravians 
are  distinguished  for  good  church  music, 
and  every  boy  and  girl  in  Salem  is  early 


taught  the  rudiments,  both  vocal  and  in- 
strumental ;  so  that  for  the  Easter  choral 
service,  there  is  a  splendid  store  of  talent 
from  which  to  draw. 

The  celebration  begins  on  Palm  Sun- 
day, when  liturgical  services  are  held, 
accompanied  by  a  sermon  appropriate  to 
the  commemoration  of  Christ's  entry 
into  Jerusalem.  The  exercises  present  a 
foretaste  of  the  musical  feast  yet  to  come. 
During  Passion  Week  (between  Palm 
Sunday  and  Easter),  a  number  of  inter- 
esting services  are  held,  both  morning 
and  evening,  and  attract  a  very  general 
attendance;  of  these  the  most  solemn 
and  impressive  take  place  on  Good 
Friday. 

The  following  day  (Saturday)  is  called 
'  'Great  Sabbath,  "on  which  theLoveFeast, 
in  imitation  of  the  apostolical  agapce, 
is  celebrated.  This  observance  is  one  of 
the  most  original  and  distinctive  feat- 
ures of  the  Moravian  Church,  and  every 
member  of  the  congregation  is  present, 
save  the  very  sick  and  infirm — even  the 
mothers  carrying  babes  being  assigned 
to  seats  in  the  lecture-room  adjoining 
the  main  auditorium,  where  prattle  and 
cries  may  not  disturb  the  services. 

The  contrast  between  the  intense 
solemnity  of  the  previous  day  and  the 
light-heartedness  of  this  one,  is  plainly 
portrayed  upon  the  faces  of  the  congre- 
gation ;  a  joyous  smile  illuminates  every 
countenance,  even  that  of  the  man  of  God, 
who,  with  a  beaming  light  playing  on 
him,  warns  his  hearers  not  to  make  it 
a  season  of  levity.     A  neatly  printed 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
in  2014 


https://archive.org/details/moravianeasterOOoldh 


THE  MORAVIAN  EASTER. 


655 


programme  is  adhered  to,  and  provides 
largely  for  congregational  singing,  or 
the  half-chant,  half-anthem,  which  is 
peculiar  to  the  Moravians;  many  beau- 
tiful solos  and  choruses  are  given  by  the 
choir  with  organ  accompaniment. 

The  specially  distinctive  feature  of  this 
day's  worship  is  the  novel  service  of  cof- 
fee and  sweetened  bread.  To  the  air 
already  laden  with  the  scent  of  flowers 
is  added  the  delightful  aroma  of  the  best 
Java,  distilled  in  huge  urns  in  the  base- 
ment below. 

At  the  proper  moment,  as  fixed  by  the 
programme,  the  doors  of  each  aisle  are 
thrown  open,  and  through  them  file  two 
processions,  one  of  men  and  one  of  wom- 
en, all  bearing  huge  wooden  trays  con- 
taining cakes  of  sweetened  bread.  The 
women,  who  wear  dainty  white  aprons 
and  snowy  mull  caps,  pass  down  the  right 
aisle,  and  serve  each  female  member  of 
the  congregation  with  cake;  while  the 
men,  dressed  in  conventional  black,  wait 
similarly  upon  their  own  sex,  seated  on 
the  opposite  side  of  the  church.  When 
all  are  served  with  sweetened  bread  the 
waiters  pass  out  and  return  with  their 
trays  full  of  huge  porcelain  mugs  of  hot 
steaming  coffee ;  these  are  likewise  served 
to  the  congregation,  who,  led  by  the  choir, 
sing  throughout  the  whole  distribution. 

The  choir  pauses  when  the  bread  and 
coffee  have  been  given  out ;  and  the  min- 
ister arises,  makes  a  few  remarks,  and 
finally,  after  asking  the  blessing  of  God 
upon  the  service,  breaks  the  bread  and 
begins  to  eat.  This  is  a  signal  to  the  con- 
gregation to  do  likewise,  after  which  the 
choir  begins  its  anthem,  which  the  minis- 
ter reads  out,  stanza  by  stanza. 

The  cups  and  remnants  of  bread,  later 
on,  are  borne  out  by  the  same  waiters,  and 
after  more  singing,  interspersed  by  words 
from  the  preacher,  the  congregation  rises 
to  receive  the  benediction,  and  departs 
amid  sonorous  peals  of  the  great  organ. 

During  the  afternoon  the  graves  in  the 
cemetery  are  decorated  with  flowers,  and 
a  little  later  the  nests  for  the  ' '  Good 
Rabbit "  to  lay  in  are  secreted  within  the 
flower  yards  of  each  household.  It  is  an 
old  tradition — as  dear  to  the  younger 
population  of  Salem  as  that  of  Kris 
Kringle  in  Christmas-time — that  the  rab- 
bits lay  beautifully  colored  eggs  at  Easter. 

The  nests  are  sometimes  made  of  candy 


and  the  eggs  likewise,  but  the  usual  cus- 
tom is  to  improvise  a  nest  of  grass  or 
straw,  and  place  within  it  real  eggs  stained 
of  every  conceivable  hue.  These  are  dis- 
covered by  the  little  folks  early  Sunday 
morning,  and  a  pretty  sight  it  is  to  see 
the  childish  faces  aglow  with  great  de- 
light and  anticipation  as  they  scamper 
from  hedge  to  bush  in  quest  of  the  Good 
Rabbit's  freshly-laid  eggs. 

The  children  use  the  eggs  in  the  well- 
known  game  which  consists  in  testing  the 
strength  of  their  shells.  There  are  numer- 
ous other  popular  sports  and  observances 
and  many  traditions,  one  of  which  is  that 
the  sun  dances  in  the  sky  on  Easter  Sun- 
day morning. 

To  the  visitor  at  Salem  during  these 
observances  the  early  morning  services 
on  Easter  Sunday  in  the  graveyard  are 
the  most  imposing  and  weird  in  character. 
Long  before  the  first  faint  streaks  of 
dawn  are  seen  in  the  eastern  horizon, 
the  church  band  ascends  to  the  belfry  in 
the  lofty  steeple,  high  above  the  roofs 
of  the  tallest  houses,  and  thence,  in  the 
deepest  darkness  that  precedes  the  dawn, 
the  sweet,  solemn  music  of  a  Moravian 
hymn  floats  out  from  the  brazen  throats 
of  the  cornets  upon  the  cool,  quiet  air 
of  early  morning — soft  and  low  at  first, 
each  succeeding  note  swelling  in  volume, 
evoking  countless  echoes  that  are  wafted 
back  from  distant  vale  and  hill-side,  until 
all  the  air  seems  filled  with  the  sweet, 
joyous  strains,  announcing  "  Christ  is 
Risen." 

Soon  a  light  here  and  there,  shining 
through  old-fashioned  dimity  curtains  in 
quaint  dormer  windows,  indicates  the 
awakening  of  households ;  these  lights  in- 
crease in  number  until  no  dwelling  can 
be  seen  without  a  gleaming  casement. 
All  is  activity  within  each  home,  and 
sounds  of  merry  voices  and  ripples  of 
youthful  laughter  are  heard  on  every  side. 
Already  people  are  on  the  streets,  wending 
their  way  to  the  church  to  assemble  before 
its  massive  doors. 

The  old  clock  in  the  steeple  peals  forth 
the  hour  of  five ;  the  pastor  comes  out 
from  the  church  and  pauses  upon  the 
broad  stone  steps,  beneath  the  light  of  a 
gas  jet.  He  reads  a  litany,  and  a  hymn 
— which  is  sung  by  the  multitude,  with 
whose  voices  sound  the  clear  mellow  notes 
of  the  cornets.    A  procession  is  formed 


656 


THE  MORAVIAN  EASTER. 


in  twos,  and,  with  the  band  at  its  head 
playing  a  sacred  hymn,  marches  slowly 
past  the  church  into  an  avenue  lined  on 
either  side  with  majestic  cedars  a  century 
old,  and  then  proceeds  to  the  Moravian 
God 's  Acre,  the  graveyard. 

Few  more  strangely  impressive  sights 
can  be  imagined,  than  this  early  morn- 
ing pilgrimage  to  the  city  of  the  dead. 
The  sombre  shadows  of  the  night  are  be- 
ginning to  disappear,  as  in  long  line 
delicately-defined  silhouettes  wend  their 
way.  At  regular  intervals  on  either  side 
of  the  white  graveled  walk,  sentinel-like, 
stand  venerable  mossy  cedars.  The  brac- 
ing air  is  sweet  with  the  perfume  of  the 
first  flowers  of  spring.  Clearly  and  slowly 
the  band  plays  its  measured  march,  while 
echoing  foot-falls  keep  perfect  time  to  the 
cadence  of  the  quaint  Moravian  melody. 

Arriving  at  the  cemetery,  the  band 
ceases  its  weird  strains,  and  with  head 
bared,  the  man  of  God  reads  in  slow  and 
solemn  tones  the  Easter  morning  litany ; 
hymns  are  sung  by  the  congregation, 
and  the  services — commemorative  of  the 
appearance  of  the  two  holy  women  at 
the  tomb  of  Jesus  at  an  early  hour  on 
'  'the  first  day  of  the  week" — are  x^rolonged 
until  the  bright  beams  of  the  sun  peep 
over  the  neighboring  hill-tops,  when  the 
band  bursts  forth  in  a  joyous  strain, 
aided  by  the  voices  of  the  whole  con- 
gregation. After  this,  the  vast  throng 
of  participants  and  spectators  disperse. 
Thousands  of  people  witness  these  early 
morning  ceremonies,  every  year. 

Appropriate  sermons  are  preached, 
both  in  the  morning  and  in  the  evening 


of  Easter  Sunday,  attracting  large  audi- 
ences. The  music,  during  these  services 
is  grander,  if  possible,  than  that  which 
accompanies  any  of  the  exercises  of  Pas- 
sion Week,  and  is  of  a  more  joyous 
nature. 

Confirmation  was  usually  administered 
during  this  day,  to  candidates  for  mem- 
bership, but  the  ceremony  has  recently 
been  observed  on  Palm  Sunday,  instead. 

During  the  afternoon  of  Easter  Sunday, 
the  cemetery  is  thronged  with  visitors, 
viewing  the  exquisite  floral  tributes  on 
the  graves  of  departed  loved  ones.  Serv- 
ices held  in  the  church  during  the  even- 
ing conclude  the  formal  ceremonies  of  a 
Moravian  Easter. 

The  next  day,  known  as  Easter  Mon- 
day, is  a  great  holiday,  and  is  celebrated 
chiefly  by  the  young  people,  who  organ- 
ize fishing  and  picnicking  parties,  and 
spend  the  day  in  some  neighboring  wood, 
or  upon  the  banks  of  a  rippling  mountain- 
stream.  This  observance  of  Easter  Mon- 
day is  general  among  the  surrounding 
communities,  and  is  gradually  becom- 
ing a  custom  among  the  young  folks 
throughout  the  State. 

The  vast  crowds  of  visitors  from  a 
distance,  who  come  to  Salem  to  witness 
the  imposing  ceremonies  of  Easter,  in- 
crease every  year,  being  drawn  thither 
by  the  fame  of  the  music,  and  the  quaint 
distinctiveness  of  the  services.  Then  re- 
turning to  their  homes,  the  pilgrims  to 
this  new-world  Mecca  carry  with  them 
the  most  indelible  impressions  of  the 
beautiful  piety  of  the  Moravian  people. 

Edward  A.  Oldham. 


